Participants:
Series Code: NOW
Program Code: NOW200010S
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00:15 This is 3ABN Now with John and Rosemary Malkiewycz.
00:21 Welcome to our program. 00:23 Have we got a program for you today? 00:26 What do you think, John? 00:27 I think so. It's very current, isn't it? 00:28 Yes. 00:30 It's pestilence, pandemic and prophecy. 00:34 Now you'll want to watch this 00:36 and you'll want to get other people to watch it. 00:38 Because we have two special guests here, 00:41 they've been with us before together and separately, 00:44 Pastor Danny Melenkov and Pastor Peter Watts. 00:47 Welcome both of you. 00:49 Thank you so much. And you know what? 00:50 They are special, they're evangelists. 00:52 They have one purpose in their mind 00:54 and that's get you the viewer to know the facts in the Bible 00:58 as pertaining to prophecy. 01:00 It's very important what's happening right now 01:02 amongst us in the world. 01:04 These are unprecedented times, but they are telling us 01:07 that the coming of Jesus is very soon. 01:09 So I'm looking forward to what they have to say. 01:11 Yes. 01:12 We always have a power packed program 01:13 when we have either or both of you. 01:16 And so thank you for coming today. 01:18 I'm really excited. 01:20 And this program is part of two programs, 01:24 where we are going to be talking about current events 01:28 and Bible prophecy and God's remedy. 01:30 Is that right during these two programs? 01:33 So stay tuned, enjoy this program 01:37 because I know that I'm going to. 01:38 I've had a sneak preview. 01:41 John? 01:42 Well, we have a Bible text and it's found in John 16:33, 01:47 and the Bible says very clearly, 01:49 "These things, have I spoken unto you, 01:52 that in Me you might have peace. 01:55 In the world, you shall have tribulation, 01:58 but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." 02:01 Isn't that a wonderful text, an encouraging text? 02:04 Danny, you chose that. 02:05 Amen. 02:07 Yes, I love that scripture because it tells us that 02:10 no matter what's going on around us, 02:12 we can have peace because Jesus is in control 02:15 and He wants to be in our hearts. 02:17 And I think that's a very applicable verse 02:19 for the times that we're living in right now. 02:23 If Jesus wants to be part of our everyday life 02:26 that no matter what is happening 02:28 in our lives or happening around us, 02:31 we can have peace in the midst of the storm. 02:33 That's right. 02:35 If you have the Prince of Peace in your life, 02:37 you have nothing to be afraid of. 02:38 Very good. 02:40 You can see the world gripped in fear 02:42 with this COVID-19 virus, 02:45 but the Bible is offering something that I'm sure 02:47 every one of us wants and that's peace. 02:49 We're going to unpack that a little bit today. 02:51 Yeah. 02:52 I really love this verse because it demonstrates 02:56 that God knows the troubles that we're going to go through. 02:59 It's not that He's unaware and it's not a, 03:03 that's what I loved about learning about the Bible 03:05 is that it was about a real God interacting with real people, 03:09 in a real world. 03:10 A world that we have 03:12 trials and tribulations and struggles in, 03:15 but God says, I know that, 03:16 but I want you to have peace in me. 03:18 And that's the wonderful part of that verse. 03:20 I like that in a real world, we all have trials. 03:25 We all have troubles 03:26 and a real God wants to associate with us 03:30 in the midst of all of that. 03:32 Very good. 03:33 And the Bible illustrates that, you look at the Bible stories 03:36 and people went through some horrific things. 03:40 They still do. 03:41 And those who trusted in God got through it. 03:47 Not necessarily unscathed, 03:49 they didn't necessarily keep their life, 03:52 but they got through it in peace, 03:54 in trusting God regardless of the outcome. 03:57 And they have an eternal life to look forward to. 04:00 So which one of you is going to lead us 04:02 on this journey today? 04:03 I think Danny is going to dive in first. 04:04 Okay. 04:06 Well, yeah, as you shared, there's a lot to unpack today 04:10 and in these two presentations 04:13 that we'll be doing this week and next week, 04:15 we're simply looking to provide an overview, 04:18 take a look at the big picture 04:20 of not only what's taking place, 04:22 but more importantly, where is it all leading to? 04:25 We're going to be taking a look at some of the prophetic 04:28 significance of the times that we are living in. 04:30 So that's why we've entitled it, 04:33 "Pestilence, Pandemic, and Prophecy." 04:36 And so the first thing... Three Ps. 04:37 Yeah, they're three Ps, easy to remember. 04:40 So the first thing I want to really 04:41 tap into is just take us back a couple of months, 04:44 I guess, toward the beginning of the year, 04:47 and many of your subscribers 04:50 would know those that have bumped into me on 3ABN 04:53 will know that I subscribe to 3ABN, 04:56 I mean, subscribe to Time Magazine 04:58 and I subscribe to 3ABN as well. 05:02 And so each week I get 05:04 the latest Time Magazine in my mail. 05:07 And at the beginning of February, 05:09 this was the front cover 05:10 and we have it up there on the screen. 05:13 And it was a fascinating front cover dated February 17 05:18 of this year, 2020, 05:20 and the front cover pointed out that the Coronavirus, COVID-19 05:26 as we well know it now began in China. 05:29 And it was wondering 05:30 how would China deal with this horrible outbreak, 05:35 this horrible disease 05:36 that had come into its territory yet again, 05:39 preventing the next outbreak, 05:41 the economic threat. 05:43 So we've gone from what was China's test, 05:45 little did anyone know back then in early February 05:48 that it would be the world test 05:50 and we don't need to be reminded of that. 05:52 So it's fascinating how quickly 05:55 things have really moved with this pandemic? 05:58 Well, that's the thing, 05:59 I've been often reminded in myself 06:02 that we're told the last movement 06:05 shall be rapid ones. 06:07 And this has moved so rapidly. 06:09 Times, laws, all sorts of things 06:13 have changed so quickly, 06:15 people's health and then suddenly dying. 06:19 Yeah, none of us would have imagined, 06:22 Christmas time that we would be in this scenario. 06:24 I just, you know, nobody was predicting 06:28 this scale of event, 06:31 even though we're going to look at some news articles 06:34 that tell us that people were concerned 06:37 that there was something that may be in the future. 06:40 But we sort of never imagined that this year 06:44 would be like the way it's been. 06:45 Well, we started the year, we had drought in Australia, 06:49 then we had bushfires, then we had some floods 06:54 and then we have pandemic, pestilence. 06:58 And, sort of, it sounds like a biblical scenario. 07:01 Yeah. 07:02 It's been one thing after the other, 07:04 like a tsunami it has really swept through the entire world 07:07 and tipped our world upside down as we well know. 07:10 Yeah. 07:11 So it keeps going. 07:13 So, since the Coronavirus crisis has begun, 07:18 ABC have put together a daily podcast, 07:21 which is called the Coronacast 07:23 and Dr. Norman Swan is on that on a daily basis. 07:26 And it's just a short 10 minute thing, 07:29 but it's a daily kind of update 07:30 on where we are with the Coronavirus, 07:33 the government regulations, 07:34 where the medical profession is in terms of looking 07:37 for a vaccine and so forth. 07:40 And so, it's an interesting listen. 07:42 But on the Coronavirus... 07:47 I think the dates on the quote on the screen here. 07:51 Yeah, 23rd of April on the Coronacast. 07:54 The host was saying, 07:56 "While scientists predicted a pandemic 07:58 from a Coronavirus way back in 2015." 08:01 I was listening to this as I was driving my car 08:03 and thinking, wow, 08:04 you know, that they had predicted 08:06 that this could happen. 08:08 And Dr. Norman Swan said, 08:09 "This is a study in Nature Medicine from 2015. 08:14 The Laboratory of Special Pathogens and Biosafety 08:18 in the Wuhan Institute of Virology 08:21 at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China. 08:24 And they were part, 08:26 a key part of this group that did the study. 08:30 And they probably looked at viruses 08:31 in the horse shoe bat population, sorry, 08:35 not probably they particularly, I got that wrong. 08:37 They particularly looked at viruses 08:39 in the horse shoe bat population." 08:42 And their final line in that report said, 08:45 "Our work suggests a potential risk 08:48 of a SARS COVID re-emergence from viruses 08:53 currently circulated in bat populations." 08:56 So that was fascinating 08:57 because that was a research in Wuhan, China in 2015. 09:02 And that's what they were concerned about. 09:05 So it's whilst for most of us, I guess, 09:08 this has come out of the blue 09:10 and we weren't expecting anything of this nature. 09:13 There have been some concerns 09:15 amongst those in the scientific and medical profession 09:18 that this could happen somewhere sometime. 09:20 Mm-hmm. 09:22 It's interesting that, no, when you read that, 09:26 these are viruses within the different animals. 09:31 In this particular case, 09:33 within bats they have this virus. 09:36 And it seems that somewhere along the line, 09:40 it jumped over into human beings. 09:43 It's not meant to be a human disease, a human virus. 09:49 And so these animals get these viruses 09:51 and we somehow get them, yeah, we'll discuss that matter. 09:53 We'll be talking about that 09:54 a little bit later in the program, 09:56 but, yeah, the fact that it was something 09:59 that they had been looking at and in particularly in Wuhan, 10:01 China was quite remarkable that was reported. 10:06 You know, Peter, when I think of 10:07 how civilization has advanced 10:10 and we travel now so easily all around the world. 10:14 You can understand where something starts 10:16 in one place can just go straight across the world. 10:21 And Wuhan was a place where people were communing, 10:23 you know, going to, because it's a distribution center 10:26 of all the products that are produced in China, 10:29 and you can go there to that place and see 10:31 all the IT equipment and everything it's there. 10:35 And so people travel there in and out. 10:38 So you can see how a pandemic can arise so quickly 10:42 because of how we travel in the world. 10:44 And we also know how it could be stopped 10:46 by stopping the travel. 10:48 That's right. 10:49 Well, see, I was reading that the Spanish flu, 10:53 it's only called Spanish flu 10:54 because that's when it first really became identified, 10:56 but it was taken around the world by people 11:00 leaving the First World War and going back to their homes. 11:04 And so it was taken to the US and other places 11:06 by these soldiers 11:08 who actually first caught it in France and places, 11:12 and they took it to their countries. 11:16 And that's how it travelled. That's right. 11:18 And you mentioned earlier, Rosemary, 11:21 that in the last few months, or in the last, 11:24 I guess several years in Australia here, 11:26 we've had famines and followed by bushfires, 11:30 followed by a season of floods, and now the pandemic. 11:33 And I've been tracking 11:35 what has become known as the doomsday clock. 11:39 For a number of years now, since I first came across 11:42 this concept or came across this scientific agency, 11:47 The Bulletin of Scientific scientists 11:50 that got together after World War II 11:52 in order to try and help the international community 11:57 avoid a nuclear fallout. 11:59 And so they came up with a doomsday clock. 12:02 This symbol of where humanity was in the stream of time. 12:07 And I think we have that up on the screen there for you. 12:10 We have the doomsday clock and where it is now. 12:14 Midnight is doomsday. 12:15 Midnight is the apocalypse. 12:18 And notice these words, 12:20 "Doomsday clock nears apocalypse 12:23 over climate and nuclear fears. 12:25 The symbolic doomsday clock, which indicates how close 12:28 our planet is to complete annihilation 12:31 is now only 100 seconds away from midnight. 12:35 So we've been moving from minutes to midnight, 12:40 and there's another graph there where you can take a look at 12:42 and you can see since it's an inception in 1947, 12:46 you can see the doomsday clock 12:48 has been going down to begin with. 12:50 And then it went up. 12:51 So things were a little bit more steady in the world. 12:54 There was a lot more peace and stability. 12:57 And then you can see, 12:59 we start heading down as we move down towards 13:03 the early 80s, 13:05 and then the peace begins to increase in the world. 13:09 And there's more security it seems up until 1991. 13:13 And then notice, from 1991 it's all downhill. 13:17 So for the last, I guess, three decades, 13:19 it's been all downhill, 13:21 and now we're no longer talking minutes to midnight. 13:24 Now the scientists speaking of seconds to midnight, 13:28 100 seconds to midnight. 13:30 Before this, the closest to midnight 13:33 that we were was two minutes to midnight, 13:36 once at the beginning 13:37 of when the clock was first brought into play. 13:41 And just over the last couple of years, 13:43 but now we're only a 100 seconds to midnight. 13:46 So we're getting 13:47 where we have warnings from the scientific community 13:51 and those who are monitoring, 13:52 you know, what's going on 13:54 with climate change in particular, 13:56 as well as the nuclear fears and cyber warfare. 13:59 But what's interesting is that the pandemic 14:03 was not even on the radar. 14:05 At the beginning of this year in January, 14:08 when the doomsday clock was moved 14:10 from two minutes to midnight to 100 seconds to midnight. 14:14 Yeah, and we saw that on a television newscast ourselves 14:18 where they were changing it, 14:19 but it says to complete annihilation. 14:23 I mean, that is finality. 14:25 That's serious staff, isn't it? 14:27 I mean, from, I saw that same news story, 14:29 Danny and I been following the doomsday clock 14:31 for couple of years, for a couple of years myself. 14:33 And it's the fact that it's, this is not a religious body. 14:38 This is a body of scientists. 14:39 They're simply looking at the data 14:41 in the conditions of the world and seeing where are we headed, 14:44 you know, where the conditions of the world deteriorate, 14:46 where are we headed. 14:48 There are some serious risks. 14:49 And as you mentioned they weren't even commenting 14:54 really on the droughts, fires and some floods 14:57 that we had had this summer in Australia anyway, 14:59 but they're really talking about nuclear proliferation. 15:02 They're talking about the concerns of the climate 15:05 which do touch a little bit on the fires and the floods. 15:08 And then they were also talking about the risks 15:11 through artificial intelligence and cyber security, 15:15 those kind of things. 15:17 And so, the point of this for me 15:20 is they're saying we're closer than ever to doomsday, 15:23 but they hadn't even taken into effect the pandemic, 15:28 the health issues of the crisis, 15:31 the economic issues 15:32 and the social issues of the crisis. 15:34 So there's something else that I wanted to pick up here, 15:37 John and Rosemary, about, it say there, 15:40 you know, 100 seconds to midnight. 15:42 What happens at midnight? 15:44 You know, what happens at midnight? 15:46 And I'd like to turn to a passage in the Bible, 15:48 it's Matthew 25 15:50 and the passage is verses 1 through 13 15:53 and it's a parable that Jesus taught. 15:55 We're not going to read all of the verses, 15:57 but I'll basically outline the parable. 16:00 Now, you need to understand that this parable 16:02 that Jesus taught, this, the story, 16:06 it's on the heels of Chapter 24 of Matthew, 16:10 which talks about a lot of the signs of the times, 16:12 just prior to the return of Jesus. 16:14 So this is signs that are, 16:16 you know, the disciples had come to him saying, 16:18 "Tell us about the signs of Your coming 16:20 and the end of the world." 16:22 And Jesus is unpacking those signs in Matthew 24. 16:25 And then in Matthew 25, towards the end of Matthew 24. 16:28 And in Matthew 25, 16:30 He talks about personal preparation 16:32 for the second coming of Christ. 16:34 And here in Matthew 25, He tells the story and He says, 16:37 the kingdom of God is like these 10 virgins 16:41 who are waiting for the bridegroom 16:43 to arrive at a wedding. 16:45 And while they're waiting, 16:50 in fact, I'm going to read verse 5, 16:53 "They're waiting," and it says, 16:55 "but while the bridegroom was delayed, 16:57 they all slumbered and slept." 17:00 And in this parable, the bride, 17:02 the bridesmaids, the 10 virgins, 17:04 which we might think of bride or bridesmaids, 17:06 they represent the church 17:08 waiting for the bridegroom to arrive. 17:10 It says, they all have lamps, but only half of them have oil, 17:15 and oil is a representation of the Holy Spirit. 17:17 But here it says, 17:19 while the bridegroom was delayed, 17:20 they all slumbered and slept. 17:22 And it sort of depicts the church as being asleep. 17:26 And in some respect, 17:28 there's an element of that that's encouraging 17:30 because if we ever think that the church is asleep, 17:33 at least God knew that it would be, 17:35 at least God predicted it, right? 17:37 The fact that the church would be asleep, 17:39 but in verse 6, it says, 17:41 "And at midnight a cry was heard, 17:46 behold, the bridegroom is coming, go out to meet him." 17:50 And it's at midnight. 17:52 I just think it's interesting 17:53 where you've got the doomsday clock. 17:55 It's two minutes to midnight, it's 100 seconds to midnight. 17:57 And I'm saying, so what happens at midnight? 18:01 And apparently, biblically at midnight, behold, 18:05 the bridegroom is coming. 18:07 And so, I just think that this whole event, 18:11 you know, people will ask is the COVID-19 crisis. 18:15 Is that the end of the way? Is this the end of the world? 18:18 You know, it's not the end of the world 18:21 because there are some other events 18:23 that occur before the end of the world, 18:24 but it is a sign of the times. 18:26 And I think 18:28 it is a wake-up call for the world, for sure. 18:31 And I think... 18:32 that this parable helps us to realize 18:36 that not only is the church asleep, 18:38 I think the world's been asleep, 18:40 but the world is being waken up. 18:43 And I think it's important that God is seeking to wake up 18:45 His people in particular. 18:47 And we've got another scripture now that I think, 18:50 John, you're going to read from 1 Thessalonians Chapter 5. 18:52 Yes, and the Bible says, 18:54 "But of the times and the seasons, brethren, 18:57 you have no need that I write unto you for yourselves know 19:01 perfectly that the day of the Lord, 19:03 so cometh as a thief in the night. 19:06 For when they shall say peace and safety, 19:09 then sudden destruction cometh upon them 19:12 as travail upon a woman with a child. 19:14 And they shall not escape. 19:19 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness that, 19:23 that day should come overtake you as a thief. 19:26 Ye are all the children of light 19:28 and the children of the day. 19:30 Ye are not of the night, nor of the darkness." 19:34 That's a very clear indication that those who are looking 19:39 and are aware of what the scripture says 19:42 will know, we are not in darkness 19:44 and we want others to be in the light also. 19:48 There is one extra verse there, I'm just going to read, 19:50 John, which is the next verse. 19:51 Verse 6, it says, "Therefore, let us not sleep as others do, 19:56 but let us watch and be sober." 19:58 And that sort of links in with the idea 20:00 that the church is asleep and He's saying 20:02 let's not sleep because it's time to be awake. 20:06 Bridegroom cometh. 20:09 Yeah. 20:10 It's really a wake-up call, isn't it? 20:11 Yes, it is. What's taking place right now. 20:14 It's a wake-up call and, 20:15 Peter, you bumped into an interesting magazine cover. 20:18 Yeah. 20:19 Well, that's right, back in February 2020, 20:23 when the crisis was just emerging, 20:25 News Week Magazine had on the front cover. 20:28 This virus is a wake-up call. 20:31 Sorry, it said, "This outbreak is a wake-up call." 20:34 And you know, in other words, 20:37 the news media are seeing this that way, 20:40 certainly we as Christians should see it that way. 20:44 And, you know, we have talked for a long time about 20:48 the need and the importance of getting ready 20:50 for the coming of Christ. 20:52 And I think in a way, to me, 20:54 it shows the graciousness of God in a way 20:57 He is, there is a lot of things have been put on hold. 21:01 A lot of things have been put on pause. 21:04 A lot of the normal events of life, 21:07 you know, just different. 21:08 And I think God is giving us an opportunity 21:11 to rethink the priorities of life 21:13 and rethink where we are with Him, 21:15 and with relation to the second coming. 21:18 And Jesus actually spent time speaking on this very subject. 21:24 Peter mentioned earlier that the parable of the 10 virgins 21:30 is on the back of the signs that Jesus gave 21:33 that would precede the destruction of Jerusalem 21:36 in 70 AD as well as the destruction of the world 21:40 at the very end of time, 21:42 that would bring about the second coming of Jesus. 21:45 And we want to go to those words of Jesus 21:46 in Matthew 24, 21:48 where Jesus specifically highlights 21:51 what we are experiencing right now in these verses. 21:56 We won't take the time to read 21:58 the beginning of Matthew 24 there, 22:01 but we're just going to skip down to verses 7 and 8. 22:04 Jesus has spoken of false christs, 22:08 He's spoken of wars and rumors of wars 22:10 and kingdom rising against kingdom, nation against nation. 22:14 We want to pick it up in verse 7. 22:15 Do you want to read verse 7 and 8 for us please, Rosemary? 22:20 Yes. 22:21 Matthew 24:7-8, 22:23 "For nation shall rise against nation 22:25 and kingdom against kingdom. 22:27 And there shall be famines and pestilences 22:30 and earthquakes in diverse places. 22:33 All these are the beginning of sorrows." 22:36 Yeah. 22:37 It's really fascinating what Jesus here shares. 22:39 He shares these three, 22:42 these three horrible experiences 22:46 of humans on planet earth that we are well familiar with, 22:50 famines, pestilences and earthquakes. 22:54 Of all the natural disasters 22:57 and of all the things that happen in the world 22:59 that bring about death and destruction, 23:01 these are the big three, the big three. 23:04 And pestilence here is in relation to disease. 23:07 That's what that word means. 23:09 It means disease. 23:10 And Jesus said that a sign of the end 23:13 will be an increase in pestilences, 23:17 famines and earthquakes. 23:18 And we know that there would be an increase 23:20 because of the analogy that Jesus uses in verse 8. 23:23 In verse 8, Jesus says 23:25 "These are all the beginning of sorrows." 23:28 That word there sorrows literally means labor pains. 23:31 Well, that's plural. 23:33 That's right. Labor pains. 23:34 So what Jesus is saying is we have always had pestilences, 23:38 famines and earthquakes. 23:39 There always been wars and rumors of wars 23:41 and false christs and false messiahs 23:43 and so on and so forth. 23:44 But as My coming draws nearer, 23:47 that will increase in intensity and frequency, 23:50 just like labor pains. 23:52 And that is exactly what we're seeing. 23:54 And Jesus also spoke of this in Luke 21:11. 23:57 I think you have that scripture for us, John, to read. 24:01 The Bible says, 24:02 "And great earthquake shall be in diverse places 24:06 and famines and pestilences and fearful sights 24:09 and great signs shall they be from heaven, 24:13 but before these, 24:14 they shall lay their hands on you and persecute you, 24:17 delivering you up to the synagogue 24:19 and on to the prisons 24:21 bringing both before kings and rulers 24:22 for My name's sake." 24:24 I read one extra verse there, 24:26 but that's what's we are told is going to happen. 24:29 That's right. 24:30 And so pestilence, disease, pandemics 24:34 are very much part of preparing for the coming of Jesus. 24:37 I came across this very interesting 24:39 Time Magazine article, 24:40 and you'll see it up there on your screen 24:42 from May 15, 2017. 24:46 And the headline really caught my attention. 24:49 This is some three years ago now, warning, 24:51 we are not ready for the next pandemic. 24:55 There was a lot in this article, 24:58 Peter has already pointed out 25:01 that scientists and the medical professionals 25:03 were already preparing themselves 25:06 for what we have seen 25:07 that is broken out upon this world. 25:09 There were some very interesting statistics. 25:11 I shared earlier how that doomsday clock 25:13 has been going downhill very quickly since 1991. 25:17 You remember that, since 1991. 25:19 Notice there's this very interesting graph 25:21 and I've scanned it and I've placed it 25:23 for our viewers to see. 25:24 If you want to take a look at that graph, 25:26 notice from the year 1980, the three decades, 1980, 25:32 all the way through to 2010, 25:35 you have a statistic there and you can clearly see 25:38 that there's been a huge increase. 25:41 It's almost a doubling each decade of the transmission 25:45 from animal to human, 25:47 as well as from human to human disease. 25:49 Outbreaks are on the rise, 25:51 and so we can clearly see that what Jesus said 25:55 those labor pains, that they would be intensifying. 25:58 We can clearly see that 25:59 it's right there in Time Magazine. 26:01 And once again, this is not a religious magazine 26:03 by any stretch, 26:05 it's just simply giving us the facts and the figures 26:09 of what's been taking place for the last 30 years. 26:11 I've got no idea what's happened 26:12 in the last decade. 26:15 I don't think, I don't think the graph would have gone down, 26:17 if anything, it would have increased. 26:19 And so, yes, that's quite interesting. 26:22 Now when it comes to pestilence, 26:24 I probably just want to share really quickly. 26:26 We don't have a lot of time, 26:28 but I did a little bit of investigation 26:30 as far as the Bible and pestilence, 26:32 and the scriptures have quite a bit to say regarding that. 26:35 Firstly, the first thing we want to know 26:37 is and make clear that the devil is behind 26:41 disease and pestilence. 26:42 He is the author of all sin. 26:45 Secondly, we know that 26:46 he is able to bring about disease upon human beings. 26:50 We have the story of Job that clearly illustrates that. 26:53 We also have disease and pestilence as part of God's 26:58 righteous judgments. 27:00 You can find that in what took place in Egypt 27:02 and one of the, and the first plague 27:04 that'll take this world by storm 27:07 at the very end of time. 27:09 We also have the signs of Jesus coming 27:12 and the pestilence associated with that. 27:14 But, John and Rosemary, there is one other and that is, 27:16 pestilences are often 27:19 the result of rebellion against God. 27:22 Rebellion against God, and God 27:24 in a number of scriptures in the Old Testament. 27:26 We don't have time to look at those scriptures, 27:29 but God says to His people, if you turn your back on Me, 27:32 if you rebel against Me and My ways, 27:35 I will have to pull away My protection from you. 27:38 And you will experience not only pestilence, 27:41 but He also says war and famine. 27:44 These three key items that we find in Matthew 24, 27:48 war, famine and pestilence. 27:50 And so that is probably the main reason 27:54 why pestilence comes 27:55 is because we turn our backs on God, 27:57 and we're going to explore that as we move along. 28:00 And I think it's a very important point 28:01 that you said that God doesn't, He doesn't say, "Oh, 28:07 I'm going to get you back." 28:09 God just says, "You don't want me involved. 28:12 I'll just sit back and you will have to reap the consequences, 28:16 the natural consequences of Me not protecting you. 28:20 And hopefully you will realize 28:22 what you're doing and you will turn around 28:24 and come back and let Me protect you again." 28:27 One of those other consequences that Danny talks about 28:32 there is Matthew 24:7, we've already read this. 28:35 There will be famines, pestilences and earthquakes. 28:38 And sadly that at a time of pestilence and particularly 28:41 in this particular crisis, 28:43 famines are going to be increasing because of that. 28:48 There's been obviously many great famines 28:51 in the world in the past. 28:52 And there's still areas of the world 28:54 that were affected by famine 28:56 even before the Coronavirus crisis. 28:58 But what the Coronavirus crisis is going to do, 29:01 it's going to make a big impact in the area of famine as well. 29:04 There's another news headline from BBC News 29:08 where it says Coronavirus, this was back in April 2020, 29:12 Coronavirus: World... 29:14 It says world risks, 'biblical' famines due to pandemic, 29:18 and that was a UN report that they're saying this, 29:22 that that's what the effect of this Coronavirus 29:25 is going to have on the area of famine. 29:27 And I just found it fascinating 29:29 that they used the word biblical in there. 29:31 You know what I mean? 29:33 That this is a secular news headline, 29:34 that's using that word to describe the effect 29:38 it's going to have on famine in the world. 29:40 That's right. 29:43 And what's the next part you're going to unpack to us? 29:45 Well, the next part is regarding earthquakes 29:48 and we're not going to spend much time on this, 29:50 but just one very interesting statistic on earthquakes, 29:54 and this time we have, and we have the headline there. 30:00 It's from NBC News some back on the 25th of October, 2014. 30:06 And this was the title, "Worldwide surge, notice, 30:10 in 'Great' Earthquake seen in past 10 years." 30:13 And Luke 21:11, 30:16 Jesus said there would be great earthquakes. 30:17 Jesus used that very word great. 30:20 And, notice what we have under the headline there. 30:24 "The annual number of great earthquakes 30:26 nearly tripled over the last decade 30:29 between 2004 and 2014, 30:31 18 earthquakes with magnitudes of 8.0 or more rattled, 30:36 subduc..." 30:38 Subduction. Subduction zones. 30:40 Thank you Peter. 30:42 "Subduction zones around the globe." 30:43 That's an increase of 265% 30:47 over the average rate of the previous century. 30:50 So once again, 30:51 those labor pains have intensified. 30:53 So whether it's famine 30:54 and we know that over 800 million people today 30:59 are experiencing starvation, 31:01 almost 10 million people are dying every year, 31:03 not to mention 2 billion people 31:05 that are suffering from hidden hunger 31:08 and there's projections that some 500 million people 31:11 may be placed into poverty during this horrible pandemic 31:15 that we are experiencing right now. 31:16 It's hard to imagine those numbers as an Australian, 31:19 when we only have 24, 31:20 25 million people in the whole country. 31:23 That more than that dying each day 31:26 from defects of famine and things. 31:29 It's just hard to understand the figures. 31:31 It's heartbreaking because every one of those is a life, 31:33 every one of those is a family. 31:36 And just as people are being affected by the Coronavirus, 31:40 people involved in, 31:41 you know, being affected by famine 31:43 is just bringing a lot of tragedy. 31:44 Yeah. 31:46 There's another area, of course, 31:48 that has been in the news. 31:50 And when this Coronavirus first, the news first broke, 31:54 they were focusing on Wuhan in China, 31:55 they were focusing on those wet markets there. 31:58 And for a time they were closed, 32:00 but they'd been reopened and some concern 32:03 about the reopening of those wet markets 32:05 and where this virus may have come from 32:08 and the wildlife that was being sold in those wet markets 32:12 and that this Coronavirus is something 32:15 that was in the animals and that was being transferred 32:19 to the humans. 32:21 There's a BBC report recently that said, 32:25 that asked this question, 32:26 "Coronavirus: Why are we catching 32:29 more diseases from animals?" 32:31 It says, "Outbreaks of new infectious diseases 32:34 are typically seen, as a 'one-off', 32:36 but the new virus 32:38 thought to have stemmed from wildlife 32:41 highlights our risk from animal-borne disease." 32:46 And it's interesting because where they believe 32:50 the Coronavirus is coming from is they believed 32:54 that it was an infection that started in bats. 32:57 And then they passed to other creatures 32:59 that were eaten by humans from that wet market. 33:03 And it's, what's interesting is in the Bible, 33:06 God has given guidance 33:08 in regard to what we can eat or what we should eat. 33:13 I found this remarkable 33:15 when I first became a Christian believer 33:17 in the Bible that, 33:19 you know, the Bible even talks about things 33:21 such as that, but that's perhaps not surprising 33:24 because God is the creator. 33:25 He's the creator of the world, He's the creator of us. 33:28 And He knows how we function best. 33:30 And, the original diet is, is placed there in Genesis. 33:34 But after the flood, God gave us permission 33:36 to eat animals, but then He stipulated 33:40 what those kinds of animals should be. 33:42 And there were clean animals and there were unclean animals, 33:45 and it is interesting to note 33:48 some of the major pestilence if you like 33:51 that we've been dealing within the last 40 years 33:53 on planet earth and the origin of those. 33:55 So for instance in the 1980s, 34:00 of course, we had HIV AIDS 34:04 that they now believe was traced. 34:06 Probable causes it believed was traced to eating 34:10 infected chimpanzee in Africa. 34:12 That's where originally that crossed over 34:14 from the animal population into the human population. 34:18 Then we have 2003, the SARS, 34:21 which was a COVID virus 34:24 that they believe came from eating civet cats 34:27 who had been eating bat dung. 34:29 Again, bats were involved which is very interesting. 34:33 And then you can have a look at that list, 34:35 and, there it's predominantly looking at when we're eating, 34:41 whether it's coming from animals 34:43 that the Bible said are unclean. 34:44 And so if you look in, for instance, in Leviticus 11, 34:48 we're not going to read this whole list out, 34:49 but God outlines there what clean animals are 34:53 and what unclean animals are. 34:55 And He provides certain rules. 34:56 So if for the beasts of the field, 35:00 they would be an animal that has a split hoof 35:03 and that chews the cud, basically grazers, 35:08 you know, things like sheep and goats 35:11 and cow would be clean animals. 35:14 And then you come to the fish and they have, 35:15 should have fins and scales if they are clean, 35:18 everything else will be unclean. 35:19 And when it comes to the birds he basically, 35:23 the Bible just lists those birds 35:25 that are regarded as unclean. 35:28 And it says in verse 19 of those that are uncleaned, 35:31 the stork, the heron after its kind, 35:33 the hoopoe and the bat. 35:35 And it's interesting to me 35:36 that it actually mentions by name 35:39 that the bats are uncleaned for eating. 35:41 And this is where some of those pestilences are coming from. 35:46 And not only that, but the clean and unclean animals 35:49 were known by Noah 35:51 because he was told to take two by two of the animals, 35:54 but there were supposed to be two of the unclean 35:56 and seven of the clean animals, seven pairs, 36:00 because they were being used for sacrifice, 36:02 not for eating at that stage. 36:05 And so he had to take more of the clean animals 36:08 so that there were enough animals 36:09 for their sacrifices, 36:11 because you were not allowed 36:12 to sacrifice an unclean animal to God, it was an abomination. 36:17 And, they were the street cleaners. 36:19 And they're the ones that eat the refuse. 36:21 And so even back then, it was 36:23 a differentiation between clean and unclean animals. 36:26 God's always been interested 36:29 in the health of His human creatures, 36:33 children that He created in His own image. 36:36 Right at the very beginning of time, 36:38 God gave us a diet that would ensure 36:41 we would have the strongest possible 36:43 immune system and today that's being talked about. 36:46 A strong immune system 36:48 we all know helps fight those bugs that come our way 36:52 and the stronger your immune system, 36:54 the better you are able to defend yourself against 36:58 those unwanted viruses and bugs that are just here, 37:01 there, and everywhere 37:02 and very, very prevalent in sin sick world. 37:03 Including cancer and things. 37:05 Exactly right. 37:06 And it's interesting the diet that God gave 37:08 to Adam and Eve that He gave to the human family 37:10 at the very beginning of time. 37:12 And you may want to read Genesis Chapter 1, 37:16 right at the very beginning of time, Genesis 1:28-29. 37:21 We're gonna talk a little bit about the immune system here 37:24 and how we can 37:26 have the strongest possible immune system. 37:28 Genesis 1:28-29. Would you like to read that? 37:31 This is part of, 37:33 part of that scripture that deals with 37:34 God's original diet for the human race. 37:36 Okay, I'll read that. 37:38 And it says, "And God blessed them," 37:39 this is Adam and Eve, "and God said unto them, 37:42 'Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth 37:45 and subdue it, 37:46 and have dominion over the fish of the sea 37:48 and over the fowl of the air and over every living thing 37:51 that moveth upon the earth.' 37:53 And God said, 'Behold, 37:55 I have given you every herb bearing seed, 37:58 which is upon the face of the earth 38:00 and every tree in which, 38:02 in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed it, 38:06 shall it, sorry, to you it shall be for meat, for food.'" 38:10 Okay. 38:11 So here at the very beginning of time, 38:13 before sin entered the world, 38:14 God gave Adam and Eve 38:16 three things to enjoy, fruits, nuts, and grains. 38:20 And then in Genesis Chapter 3, after the fall, the Bible says, 38:24 God knew that they would need 38:27 something extra to supplement their diet. 38:29 And so God gave vegetables. 38:31 So the very first diet 38:32 that God gave to the human race was a vegetable diet. 38:36 It was a plant-based diet, 38:39 and we know how important 38:41 good food and good nutrition is. 38:43 In fact, there are eight principles 38:46 that come to us straight out of the Garden of Eden 38:48 that are very helpful 38:50 in building up the immune system. 38:52 And it's known by the acronym of NEWSTART. 38:55 It's an acronym that came to be 38:59 from a place there in California, 39:03 a medical health institute lifestyle center 39:07 by the name of Weimar Institute. 39:09 And they came up with this acronym, 39:12 and that really comes out of the Garden of Eden. 39:13 So God came up with it some 6,000 years ago, 39:17 nutrition, exercise, water, sunlight, temperance, 39:21 air, rest, and trust in the Lord. 39:23 These eight principles, 39:25 you can find them all in the Garden of Eden. 39:26 You can find them all in Genesis 1 39:28 and Genesis Chapter 2. 39:29 We don't have time to unpack them, 39:31 but they're all there. 39:32 And that is one way for us to build up a very strong 39:35 and healthy immune system. 39:37 What I love about the NEWSTART principles is that, 39:41 you know, they are simple, 39:45 they are practical and they're free, 39:48 you know and this is... 39:49 And anybody can do them. 39:51 Anybody can do them, and that's what I mean by practical 39:53 is this that you don't need gym equipment 39:55 or all that kind of stuff. 39:57 These are principles that you can practice. 40:01 And I know for myself when I encountered these things 40:05 and it changed my life for the better, 40:08 because I encountered these health principles 40:10 and I've certainly been, 40:13 you know, the beneficiary of all of that. 40:16 There are other interesting principles 40:17 as God put in the Old Testament. 40:19 You know, the parts of the Old Testament 40:22 we're reading from here in Genesis. 40:24 And now I'm going to reference Leviticus again. 40:28 This is three and a half thousand years ago 40:29 when these were written and God has put principles, 40:33 health helpful principles there for us to live by. 40:37 And we've got to think about 40:39 this from the perspective of God had called His people 40:43 out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses. 40:45 And they were going to wander around in the wilderness 40:47 and they're going to be there for 40 years, 40:49 and God provided them 40:51 with principles on healthful living 40:53 for them to live in that situation. 40:56 And He provided, 40:58 there are this material in the Book of Leviticus 41:03 about how to deal with disease. 41:04 And it talks about quarantine, 41:06 you know, it talks about people being in quarantine. 41:08 If they've got an infectious disease, 41:10 you keep them away from other people. 41:12 And, of course, we've been talking about 41:13 that in Coronavirus with the whole lockdown thing, 41:15 you know, and that kind of thing, but also... 41:19 So social distancing. 41:20 They are social distanced, right. 41:21 Exactly right. That's right. 41:23 It's isolating. 41:24 But also just a simple thing like 41:26 washing our hands under running water, 41:28 you know, the government has been 41:30 putting that message out loud and clear 41:32 throughout the Coronavirus, 41:33 made sure that you wash your hands and... 41:35 Regularly. 41:37 Sorry? Regularly. 41:38 Regularly, that's right. 41:40 And it wasn't that long ago 41:43 when even people in the medical profession 41:45 were not washing their hands when examining people 41:48 who were sick and it's hard for us to fathom in this, 41:51 you know, where we live now, but this, 41:53 you know, back in 1845, 41:54 there was a young Hungarian physician 41:57 called Ignaz Semmelweis. 42:00 And he was from Hungary, 42:02 but he was working in Vienna in Austria there. 42:05 And he noticed that doctors who would be treating women 42:11 who were about to deliver 42:13 and women who were delivering babies. 42:17 He would notice that the doctors were moving 42:20 from one patient to the other 42:21 and they weren't washing their hands. 42:24 And what was happening was the women 42:27 who, after giving birth, 42:28 many of the women were developing infections. 42:31 And up to 30% of the women 42:34 giving birth in hospitals 42:36 were dying from infections after giving birth. 42:40 And Semmelweis noticed that the doctor would examine 42:43 a woman who just died. 42:44 And then he would move on to a woman who was living 42:47 without washing their hands. 42:49 And so he 42:50 bought in this practice of washing hands 42:53 between patients and the death rate 42:56 moved from up to 30% down to 2% 43:00 because of that simple practice of washing hands. 43:02 And they would do it with a bowl of water. 43:03 These days we wouldn't even suggest that. 43:05 We'd say, well, the germs are still in that water. 43:07 We would want running water. 43:09 And so your interest in Leviticus. 43:10 And soap. And soap, that's right. 43:12 But in Leviticus 15:13, it says, it talks about this. 43:16 It says, "When he who has a discharge 43:18 is cleansed from his discharge, 43:20 then he shall camp for himself seven days for his cleansing, 43:24 wash his clothes and bathe his body in running water. 43:29 Then he shall be clean." 43:30 And it's interesting 43:32 that those kinds of things are in the scriptures 43:36 long before modern times. 43:38 Running water. 43:40 Excellent. 43:41 It's fascinating that the children of Israel 43:43 wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, 43:45 2 million people without a hospital. 43:48 And so God gave them all these different laws, 43:52 as we have pointed out to help them stay healthy 43:56 and to safely make their way to the Promised Land 43:59 that God had promised them. 44:00 Hmm. 44:02 So what are some of the mental health issues 44:03 that we're facing with these situations? 44:05 So obviously 44:07 most people are focusing on the physical health, 44:10 the effects of Coronavirus, 44:12 but now people are concerned because we're in, 44:16 have been in lockdown. 44:18 There are concerns about people's mental health, 44:22 of the fear of the virus. 44:24 They're concerned about the interpersonal relationships 44:27 during a lockdown, a situation where, 44:31 you know, you're living in the home with people 44:36 that you're used to living with, 44:38 but you're not used to spending that much time with them. 44:40 And, in fact, they've been saying that that there's been 44:42 a doubling of domestic violence reports. 44:45 We actually don't know, of course, 44:47 what the real situation 44:49 is because we're talking about what the reports are. 44:52 But again, in the news that they've talked about this fear, 44:57 the fear of Coronavirus is changing our psychology. 45:02 That was another BBC News report. 45:06 And it says, "The threat of contagion 45:09 can twist our psychological responses 45:11 to ordinary interactions, 45:13 leading us to behave in unexpected ways. 45:16 And, we're finding this up. 45:19 You know, we've said before, 45:21 this was a great surprise to us 45:23 as well as to the rest of the world, 45:25 in terms of the extent 45:27 and the nature of the way this virus has spread. 45:32 And we've all been thrown into situations 45:35 that are unusual. 45:37 Our way of life has changed. 45:39 And this fear that people have 45:45 not only simply about the Coronavirus, 45:47 but where is the world headed? 45:49 You know, this to me is the great advantage 45:51 of the Christian faith 45:53 is because God has revealed these things in Scripture 45:56 that, yes, there's going to be a time of trouble 45:58 as we read in that opening verse, 46:00 "In this world, you will have tribulation, 46:02 but be of good cheer. 46:03 I have overcome the world." There is a plan. 46:05 God is still in charge of the universe. 46:08 He has a happy ending in mind. 46:10 Yes, we're going to go through some tribulation. 46:12 We're going through some now, but God has a plan in mind. 46:15 Jesus will return. 46:17 And He will bring an end to all of this struggle. 46:20 When are you looking at the problems 46:22 with isolation or isolating and families being together, 46:26 thrown together so for such a period of time. 46:30 There's also the problem of the people 46:32 who can't go and spend time with other people 46:35 and the mental issues 46:37 that they will have of having been 46:40 in solitary confinement, basically. 46:43 I just want to make a point about that, you're right. 46:45 Rosemary, and then I want to throw to Danny, 46:46 cause I'm sure he's had something to say as well 46:49 about that, but I really feel for those who are alone 46:53 in this situation 46:54 where you have been in a situation 46:57 when you're not allowed to visit others, 46:59 others aren't allowed to visit you. 47:01 And I think, again, the Christian faith in one, 47:04 in times like this, the Bible tells us with God, 47:07 we are never alone. 47:09 And whilst it is far more difficult 47:12 for those who are living alone. 47:14 When you have God, at least, 47:16 you know, He can, you can talk to Him, 47:18 He can talk to you through the scriptures. 47:20 There is somebody to cry out to. 47:22 And, you know, I think that's something 47:25 I appreciate about our Christian faith. 47:27 And I think it's interesting that Jesus, 47:28 once again, in the context 47:30 of the second coming spoke of our time. 47:33 He spoke of, of this mental angst 47:35 that would be present. 47:37 And you might want to read Luke 21:25-26. 47:40 Yep. 47:42 And the Bible says, 47:43 "And there shall be signs in the sun and in the moon 47:45 and the stars and upon the earth 47:46 distress of nations with perplexity, 47:50 the sea and the waves roaring, 47:52 men's hearts failing them for fear. 47:55 And for looking after those things, 47:56 which are coming on the earth, 47:58 for the powers of heaven shall be shaken." 48:00 So you can see there's going to be fear and distress. 48:02 That's right. 48:03 And, just quickly, I'm going to put up those words, 48:07 distress and perplexity, notice what these words mean, 48:11 "Great mental or physical suffering, 48:13 distress, such as extreme anxiety, 48:15 sadness, or pain, 48:17 or the state of being in danger or urgent need." 48:20 Let's go to our next word, perplexity, notice, 48:23 "A state of confusion or a complicated 48:26 and difficult situation or thing." 48:27 And finally, fear, 48:29 "An unpleasant emotion or thought that you have 48:32 when you are frightened 48:33 or worried by something dangerous, painful, 48:35 or bad that is happening or might happen." 48:38 And that is what we have been saying. 48:40 But as Peter pointed out, the good news 48:42 is that if we have Christ in our hearts and in our lives, 48:45 we don't need to be afraid because He is in our vessel 48:48 and we can have confidence no matter what comes our way. 48:52 And that's the real blessing of the gospel. 48:55 That's right. 48:56 One last scripture 48:58 that I wanted to turn to in this presentation, 49:00 and it's actually in Malachi Chapter 4, 49:04 which is the last page of the Old Testament. 49:07 Malachi 4:5-6. 49:10 And I want to read that too, because it says, "Behold, 49:15 I will send you Elijah the prophet 49:17 before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. 49:21 And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, 49:24 and the hearts of the children to their fathers, 49:27 lest I come and strike the earth with a curse." 49:31 And it tells us here that... 49:34 God is gonna send the message of the Prophet Elijah 49:37 in the last days to turn people's hearts 49:39 back to the father, 49:41 turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. 49:43 That's certainly talking in a familial sense, 49:46 but I think this is where the gospel is too, 49:48 because really 49:49 God's intention is to be trying to turn his children 49:53 back to the father, and the father's, 49:56 the father's attention back to his children. 49:59 You know, in Matthew 24:12 50:01 and those signs that Jesus talked about, 50:03 it says because of lawlessness, 50:04 the love of many will grow cold, 50:07 but here God is trying to reignite that love 50:10 that we should... 50:13 turn our hearts back to the children 50:16 and have the children turn their hearts 50:18 back to the fathers. 50:19 This is something that was true. 50:23 When John the Baptist came, 50:25 he had the spirit and power of Elijah. 50:28 And it's true in the last days 50:29 where God is pouring out His Spirit once more. 50:33 And it's wonderful that this is in the context, 50:37 these words that we've just read from Malachi 50:38 is in the context of preparing a people 50:41 for the coming of the Lord, 50:42 and we have the pandemics, we have pestilence, 50:46 we've got famines, we've got suffering and sorrow. 50:49 There is just so much of that, 50:50 death and destruction and disease, 50:52 but the good news is 50:54 the Bible doesn't end with pandemics. 50:57 The Bible doesn't end with pestilence, 51:00 but the Bible ends with the glorious event 51:03 of the coming of Jesus. 51:05 And those that will inherit a world where there is no sin, 51:09 suffering and sorrow. 51:10 And so we want to conclude with a final scripture 51:13 before we give an invitation 51:16 for folk to continue on this journey. 51:18 And that's from Revelation 21. 51:20 This would have to be one of my favorite passages 51:23 in all the Bible. 51:24 Revelation Chapter 21, sin, and suffering, and sorrow, 51:27 and Satan have been destroyed forever more. 51:31 And this is what John the Revelator writes 51:33 in Revelation 21:4-5, 51:36 "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. 51:40 There shall be no more death, no sorrow, nor crying. 51:44 There shall be no more pain, 51:46 for the former things have passed away. 51:48 Then he who sat on the throne said, 51:51 'Behold, I make all things new.' 51:54 And he said to me, 51:55 'Write for these words are true and faithful.'" 51:59 And so the Bible ends with no more pain, no more suffering, 52:04 no more COVID-19 or anything like that. 52:08 The Bible ends with a world that is in harmony and unity, 52:15 living in the love of God, 52:17 living under the principles of God's government 52:20 forever more. 52:21 And God says, you can take these words to the bank, 52:24 write He says to John, write, 52:26 for these words are true and faithful. 52:29 We can put our faith and trust in God's Word. 52:31 And he needs promises that there's a new day coming, 52:34 that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. 52:36 And that light is the coming of Jesus. 52:38 So let's remember that. 52:39 It said, though we have some anxiety, fears, 52:45 some difficult situations happening at the moment 52:48 in this world that the Bible gives us the hope 52:52 that God is faithful and true in his words 52:54 that Jesus will come. 52:55 Absolutely. 52:57 And as we go to that point, 52:59 I'll just want to introduce to you our address role 53:03 so that you can contact us. 53:04 If you want more information, 53:06 if you want to get in touch 53:08 with Pastor Danny or Pastor Peter 53:09 even, and ask them more questions, 53:11 you can do so at this address. 53:17 If you would like to contact 3ABN Australia, 53:19 you may do so in the following ways. 53:21 You may write to 3ABN Australia, PO Box 752, 53:26 Morisset, New South Wales 2264, Australia. 53:30 That's PO Box 752, Morisset, 53:33 New South Wales 2264, Australia, 53:37 or you may call 02- 4973-3456. 53:41 That's 02-4973-3456 from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM, 53:48 Monday to Thursday or 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM, 53:52 Fridays New South Wales time. 53:54 You may also email us at mail@3abnaustralia.org.au. 54:00 That's mail at the number 3ABN Australia, 54:04 all one word.org.edu. 54:08 Thank you for all you do to help us light the world 54:10 with the glory of God's truth. 54:15 I hope you've got all those details 54:17 and we'd like to hear from you. 54:19 And I'm sure Peter and Danny would also, 54:21 but you know, just in closing off the program, Peter, 54:24 I know that when we talk about things of this nature, 54:28 there's something that always comes up in our mind. 54:30 And I'd like you to share that with our viewers, Peter. 54:33 Yeah. 54:34 John, I think that we've been talking about pestilence, 54:37 pandemic and prophecy. 54:38 And for me, 54:40 I think what God wants us to know 54:44 is that there, that He still loves people. 54:47 In spite of all the trouble we see here, 54:49 there is a solution 54:50 and God will ultimately bring about that, 54:53 that solution when Jesus returns. 54:55 But the events that we see happening now 55:00 most of the trends that we see, whether it's a pestilence, 55:04 famine, earthquakes, wars, whatever it may be, 55:07 these trends have been going on for a while now. 55:09 And they're building to a point. 55:11 And that point is the second coming of Christ. 55:13 And God wants us to be ready for that. 55:16 These things are occurring, if you like as a wake-up call. 55:19 We've seen that in the headlines 55:21 that God wants us to take Him seriously. 55:24 He wants us to say, He wants us to understand. 55:27 We live in a troubled world. 55:28 We live in a troubled world because of sin. 55:30 God wants to bring an end to that. 55:32 He wants to bring an end to the trouble 55:34 and the sin in our world. 55:36 And He wants us to take us to a place that is safe, 55:39 and He wants to save our lives literally in a literal sense, 55:43 in a spiritual sense. 55:44 And so, God is asking us 55:46 to put our faith and trust in Christ, 55:49 so that when He comes, we'll greet Him and run to Him 55:53 when He comes, 55:54 People are out there everywhere, 55:56 wondering what's going to happen Danny. 55:58 And there's some, you know, they want peace. 56:00 I think we all want peace. 56:01 I know you would want peace as I want peace. 56:03 The Bible does give us that assurance. 56:06 So just share with us, Danny, on your heart, 56:09 the peace that we hear about, 56:10 and we've been talking about today? 56:12 Well, Jesus is the Prince of Peace. 56:15 The Bible says, He is the Prince of Peace. 56:18 I want to reflect on the words of our government leaders 56:22 stressing over and over again, 56:24 encouraging the Australian population 56:26 that we're going to get to the other side, 56:28 you hear those, you hear those words, 56:30 we're going to get to the other side. 56:31 And so it's a message of hope. 56:33 It's interesting that I came across 56:35 this Time Magazine article 56:38 and the front cover was finding hope, finding hope. 56:43 And the whole magazine, the entire focus, 56:47 the theme was, as you can see there from the front 56:49 and that artist's depiction on the pavement in a Paris, 56:53 straight finding hope, where do we find hope? 56:56 And the truth is, we cannot find hope 56:59 in the governments of this world. 57:00 We need to pray for them 57:02 and we need to continue to do that. 57:03 But the hope, the only hope we can find is in Jesus Christ. 57:06 And the second coming in the Bible is referred 57:09 to as the blessed hope. 57:10 So I want to give the viewers an opportunity 57:13 to go a little bit further. 57:15 There's a couple of books, and they're up on the screen 57:17 there that I want to encourage you with, 57:19 one, Steps to Christ, 57:20 a beautiful book that will lead you closer and closer to Jesus 57:23 and the other one, The Great Hope 57:25 that will unpack more 57:26 of what we have been looking at today. 57:28 Very good. 57:29 And those books are worth getting, 57:31 I tell you, get hold of them. 57:32 But one of the things we've got to remember 57:34 is that this is only part one. 57:36 We have part two to come. 57:38 So turn again to this channel, to this program, 57:42 and we'll see you next time for part two. 57:44 God bless you. |
Revised 2021-01-27